Tuesday, August 9, 2011

A Talk with WineAmerica's Cary Greene

WineAmerica's Cary Greene gave an interview with Wine and Spirits Daily. It was published today.

WineAmerica is a grassroots organization that represents large and small wineries in approximately 48 states. It started in 1978 as an eastern regional wineries association, and ultimately transitioned to a national organization in the mid-1990s. They represent both their paying membership and more than 60 state winery associations around the country at both the state and federal level. "If you take into account both our membership and the affiliation that we have with state winery associations, we end up representing most of the nation's wineries on Capitol Hill," Cary Greene, WineAmerica's chief operating officer and general counsel, recently told WSD. "We also work a lot with our industry partners, including the Wine Institute, in state legislatures and work closely with the state associations to try and make sure that wineries have the best policy possible to get their products to market." And it's no easy task as the wine industry is still relatively young, and has grown "from fewer than 600 wineries 30 years ago to more than 7,000 now." So what are some of the biggest issues they are facing right now? It all boils down to wineries having the ability to remain profitable.

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